Vacuum paper feeder

ABSTRACT

A series of sets of vacuum fingers are provided for feeding sheets seriatim from a stack. The stack is positioned on a paper support with movable side guides for positioning sheets of one of several preselected widths to be picked up by the vacuum fingers. Solenoid valves interconnect the vacuum fingers with a source of vacuum and are operated in response to the position of the side guides so that only those sets of fingers which are operative to engage sheets of the width of the paper on the support have a vacuum applied thereto.

United States Patent 2,262,109 11/1941 Miller 3,339,916 9/1967 TregayPrimary Examiner-Joseph Wegbreit Assistant ExaminerBruce l-l. Stoner,Jr. Attorneys-Robert W. Hampton and Gary D. Fields ABSTRACT: A series ofsets of vacuum fingers are provided for feeding sheets seriatim from astack. The stack is positioned on a paper support with movable sideguides for positioning sheets of one of several preselected widths to bepicked up by the vacuum fingers. Solenoid valves interconnect the vacuumfingers with a source of vacuum and are operated in response to theposition of the side guides so that only those sets of fingers which areoperative to engage sheets of the width of the paper on the support havea vacuum applied thereto.

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ATTOR NEYS POWER SOURCE VACUUM PAPER FEEDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1 Field of the Invention This invention relates to a paper feeder andmore particularly to a vacuuin paper feeder for feeding paper seriatimfrom one of several preselected widths of paper.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the printing art, copy sheets aretypically seriatim from a supply, such as a stack of copy sheets, to aprinting or transfer position where an image is placed on the copysheets. Copy sheets are fed from the top of the stack by means of vacuumfingers which pick up the top sheet and feed it to a transfer means,such as feed rollers, which feed the sheet to a transfer station. Apaper support for supportingthe supply of paper is normally providedwith adjustable side guides for holding sheets of different selectedwidth and length. Vacuum pickup fingers are provided with valves whichmay be closed to shut off the vacuum source to fingers which are notused for the narrower widths of paper. Such vacuum fingers are shown inUS. Pat. No. l,575,892 toAshby; U.S. Pat. No. 2,262,l09 to Miller; US.Pat. No. 1,820,469 to Low; and US. Pat. No. 2,986,392 to Buttner. Witheach of these devices, the vacuum fingers are individually controlled bya valve which is manually operable to disconnect the respective vacuumfingers from their source of vacuum. Thus, each time the operator of theprinting device wishes to change the size of paper to be used, he mustmanually adjust some of the vacuum fingers so that each of those whichwill come in contact with the size paper to be placed in the machine areconnected to the vacuum whereas those which will not come in contactwith the paper will not be in communication with the vacuum source. Suchan operation is time consuming and increases the downtime of the machinewhen changing from one size paper to another. Also, if adjustable sideguides are provided, they must be manually adjusted in addition toadjusting the vacuum fingers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, asupport is provided for supporting a stack of one of several sheetsizes. The support has movable sheet-positioning means for positioningthe stack below a plurality of vacuum fingers which are mounted formovement toward and away from the support to feed sheets seriatim tosuitable paper transport means. The vacuum fingers are connected to asource of vacuum. Valves are interposed between some of the fingers andthe vacuum source and are controlled in response to movement of thesheet-positioning means to provide vacuum at. those fingers which are tobe brought into engagement with the sheets but not to provide vacuum tothose vacuum fingers which will not come into engagement with thesheets.

More specifically, the invention contemplates the provision of a papersupport having adjustable side guides which are interconnected by a rackand pinion arrangement so that upon adjustment of one side guide, theopposite side guide is also adjusted. Several sets of movable vacuumfingers are provided above the support and are movable into engagementwith the uppermost sheet of the stack to lift the sheet from the stackand feed it to suitable paper transport means. A first set of vacuumfingers engages the narrowest width paper whereas the next wider widthpaper is engaged by both the first set of vacuum fingers and a secondset of vacuum fingers. An additional set of vacuum fingers is providedfor each wider width of paper. Each set of vacuum fingers, except forthe first set of vacuum fingers, is provided with a vacuum control valvewhich interconnects the vacuum fingers with a vacuum source. The vacuumcontrol valves are respectively connected to switches positioned underthe paper support. The switch which is connected to the valve for thesecond set of fingers is located so as to be operated upon positioningof the side guides to receive paper of the next wider width. Each of theother switches are positioned across the bottom of the paper supportfrom the switch for the next narrower width at a distance equal toone-half the difference in width between the width of paper for which itis to be operated and the next narrower width. One of the paper guidesis provided with one or more permanent magnets thereon positioned tooperate the respective switches at the appropriate positions of thepaper guides.

Upon movement of the adjustable side guides, the magnets will operatethe appropriate switches for the vacuum control valves so that vacuum issupplied from the vacuum source to those vacuum fingers only which areto come in contact with the selected paper width. It is apparent that byone single, simple operation the paper-feeding device may be adjusted tohandle a different size paper. Thus, the operator need only move one ofthe side guides which in turn moves the other side guide to the properposition and causes adjustment of the valves so that only those vacuumfingers which will come in contact with the paper supply to be placed inthe paper-feeding apparatus will have vacuum supplied thereto.

Additional advantages of this invention will become apparent from thedescription which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of thepaper-feeding device constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a section, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, with parts omittedfor clarity of illustration, showing further details of the paperfeeding device;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section, taken along line 33 of FIG. 1, showinga rack and pinion arrangement for adjusting the side guide; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram which can be used with the valvesof FIGS. 1 and 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In accordance with thisinvention, a paper-feeding device is provided which includes a papersupport 2 for supporting stacks of paper of predetermined width betweenadjustable side guide 4 which is movable in slot 5 and adjustable sideguide 6 which is movable in slot 7. Conveniently, an end guide 8 isadjustable in slot 9 to the length of copy paper, such as a stack 10, asillustrated. In addition to the relatively wide copy paper 10, theapparatus is adapted to feed an intermediate width copy paper 12 asindicated in dotted lines in FIG. I and the narrow width copy paper 14,also indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 1. The copy paper is fed seriatimby a vacuum pickup device 16 and fed to a sheet-transport device such asopposed feed rollers 18 and 20, best seen in FIG. 2.

The vacuum pickup device includes a plurality of sets of pickup fingers,such as pickup finger set 22 which includes a pair of pickup fingers 24and 25 for feeding a narrow sheet of paper 14; a pickup finger set 26which includes pickup fingers 28 and 29, which together with pickupfinger set 22, feed sheets 12 of intermediate width; and pickup fingerset 30 which includes fingers 32 and 33, which together with sets 22 and26, feed wide copy sheets 10 through the feed rollers 18 and 20. Forpurposes of illustration, only three sets of pickup fingers have beenillustrated and each set comprises two pickup fingers. However, it willbe understood that additional sets could be provided and additionalfingers could be pro vided in each set, as needed to accommodate widthsof paper other than those shown.

All of the pickup fingers are connected through a tee 34 to vacuumsupply 36. In addition, pickup finger set 26 is connected to tee 34through a solenoid valve 38 whereas pickup finger set 30 is connected totee 34 through a solenoid valve 40, which solenoid valves are adapted tobe closed when the paper to be fed is not wide enough to be engaged bythe vacuum fingers of the respective sets.

Conveniently, side guide 4 is provided with a rack 42 extending belowsupport 2, and side guide 6 is provided with a similar rack 44,extending parallel to rack 42. These racks engage opposite sides of apinion 46 which is illustrated in FIG. 3 as being rotatably mountedbelow support 2 by means of a screw 48 extending through a bearing 50which is held in place by a washer 52. With this arrangement, movementof one side guide will cause a corresponding movement of the oppositeside guide so that they will always be in proper position with respectto each other.

In addition, one of the side guides, such as side guide 4 is providedwith an arm 54 extending under support 2 and having a pair of spacedpennanent magnets 56 and 58 which are spaced apart along arm 54 so as tocontrol valves 38 and 40 in response to the position of the side guides,as more fully described below.

Conveniently, a pair of switches 60 and 62 are illustrated as beingattached to the bottom of support 2 above the path of arm 54 and arespaced a distance apart equal to one-half the difference in width of thetwo paper widths for which they are to be used. Alternatively, theswitches could be mounted on a frame member (not shown) spaced belowsupport 2. These switches are connected in series with solenoid valves38 and 40, respectively, which are connected to a power source 64, asshown in FIG. 4. Advantageously, when the side guides 4 and 6 are movedto the intermediate position indicated as 4 and 6, magnet 56 will bepositioned under switch 62 to cause solenoid valve 40 to shut ofi" thevacuum to vacuum finger set 30 since this finger set would not be usedwith intermediate size paper 12. if the side guides are moved to theposition for narrow width paper as illustrated in FIG. 2 as positions 4"and 6", magnet 56 will be positioned under switch 60 and magnet 58 willbe positioned under switch 62 so that both solenoid valves 40 and 38 areoperated to shut off vacuum finger sets 30 and 26 so that the vacuumgoes only to set 22 for lifting a narrow width paper 14 from a stack. Ifdesired, one long magnet can be used in place of the two magnets shown.Of course, it can be seen that end guide 8 may be adjusted to therespective paper sizes or for some applications this guide may beomitted entirely. lf support 2 is movable from a storage position inwhich the support is filled with a supply of paper to the work positionshown in the drawings, it may be desirable to provide a memory circuitso that upon adjusting of the side guides while the tray in the storageposition a signal will be provided to the memory circuit which in turnwill provide a signal to the solenoid valves upon positioning of thetray in the work position. In addition, although three sets of fingersand three sizes of paper have been illustrated it will be understoodthat a lesser or greater number of sets of fingers and sizes of papercan be accommodated by providing an appropriate number of switches andmagnets for the additional sizes.

From the foregoing, the advantages of this invention are readilyapparent. A paper-feeding device has been provided which can accommodateany one of several widths of copy paper. By adjusting paper-positioningmeans, such as side guides, sets of vacuum fingers for the differentsizes of paper can be controlled so that vacuum is provided only tothese fingers which will come in contact with the size paper positionedon the support. This is accomplished by providing spaced magnets on atleast one of the side guides which are positionable under one or moreswitches in accordance with movement of the side guides to provide acontrol signal to solenoid valves which interconnects the respectivesets of vacuum fingers with a vacuum supply.

The invention has been described in detail with reference to a preferredembodiment thereof, but it will be understood that variations andmodifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

l Claim:

1. Apparatus for feeding sheets seriatim from one of a plurality ofstacks of sheets of varying width positionable in said apparatus, saidapparatus comprising:

a sheet support having a first side for supporting any one of theplurality of stacks of sheets at a time;

a plurality of vacuum fingers movable toward and away from said supportfor feeding said sheets seriatim from a stack on said support;

means for supplying a vacuum to said vacuum fingers;

valve means interconnecting at least one of said fingers with saidvacuum supply means and movable between an open position wherein vacuumis supplied to said finger and a closed position in which vacuum is notsupplied to said finger;

movable sheet-positioning means movable along a path for positioning oneof said stacks of sheets on said support; and

means for controlling said valve means in response to movement of saidsheet-positioning means so that vacuum is supplied only to those fingerswhich are engageable with a stack of sheets positioned on said support.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control means includes:

spaced switches on one of said sheet support and said positioning means;and

spaced means on the other of said sheet support and said positioningmeans for operating said switches when moved along a path to a positionadjacent said switches.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said positioning meansincludes:

at least first and second side guides on said support movable toward andaway from each other to center a stack of paper thereon;

a rack extending from each of said side guides toward the other sideguide on a second side of said support opposite said first side, saidracks being generally parallel to each other; and

a pinion rotatably mounted on said second side of said support andengageable by both of said racks so that upon movement of one of saidside guides in a first direction the other of said guides is movedcorrespondingly in an opposite direction to said first side guide.

4. A paper-feeding apparatus for feeding copy sheets seriatim from oneof a plurality of stacks of paper of narrow, intermediate or wide widthpositionable in said apparatus, said device comprising:

a paper support having a top side for supporting any one of theplurality of stacks of paper at a time;

first and second sets of vacuum fingers movable together toward and awayfrom said support for engaging said copy sheets to feed them seriatimfrom a stack on said support;

means for supplying a vacuum to said first and second sets of vacuumfingers;

a first control valve movable between an open and closed position andinterconnecting said second set of fingers to said vacuum supply means;

movable paper-positioning means for positioning a stack of any one ofsaid narrow, intermediate or wide width copy paper on said support; and

means for moving said first control valve so that vacuum is suppliedonly to said first set of vacuum fingers responsive to the positioningof said narrow paper on said support and vacuum is supplied to both setsof fingers responsive to the positioning of said intermediate paper onsaid support.

5. A paper-feeding apparatus, as claimed in claim 4, further including:

a third set of vacuum fingers movable with said first and second sets ofvacuum fingers;

a second control valve movable between an open and closed position andinterconnecting said third set of vacuum fingers with said vacuum supplymeans; and

first and second control means which include said moving means, saidfirst control means being responsive to a position of said positioningmeans for holding said intermediate width paper to close said secondcontrol valve to shut off vacuum to said third set of vacuum fingers andsaid first and second control means being responsive to a position forholding said narrow width paper in said positioning means to close saidfirst and second control valves to shut off vacuum to said second andthird sets of vacuum fingers, respectively.

6. A paper-feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of saidcontrol valves further include:

first and second solenoids for moving said first and second controlvalves respectively;

spaced first and second switches below said support and connected incircuit, respectively, with said first and second control valves andspaced from each other a distance equal to one-half the difference inwidth between said narrow width paper and said intermediate width paper;and

magnet means movable in response to movement of said paper-positioningmeans along a path adjacent said switches to operate said switches inresponse to the position of said paper-positioning means.

7. A paper-feeding apparatus, as claimed in claim 6, wherein said magnetmeans includes:

first and second magnets spaced apart a distance substantially equal tothe spacing of said first and second switches.

8. A paper-feeding apparatus for feeding copy sheets seriatim from oneof a plurality of stacks of paper including at least stacks of paper ofnarrow width, intermediate width and wide width positionable on saidapparatus, said apparatus comprising:

a paper support having a top side and a bottom side, said paper beingsupportable on said top side;

at least first, second and third sets of vacuum fingers, said first setof fingers being engageable with paper of each of said widths, saidsecond set of vacuum fingers being engageable with said intermediatewidth paper and said wide width paper only and said third set of vacuumfingers being engageable with said wide width paper only, said sets ofvacuum fingers being movable toward and away from said support forfeeding paper from a stack of paper on said support;

means for supplying a vacuum to said first, second and third sets ofvacuum fingers;

a first energizable solenoid valve interconnecting said second set ofvacuum fingers with said vacuum supply means and being movable betweenan open and closed position;

a second energizable solenoid valve interconnecting said vacuum supplymeans and said third set of vacuum fingers and being movable between anopen and closed position;

first and second paper guides movable on opposite sides of a stack ofpaper to center said paper on said support;

a rack extending from each of said paper guides on the bottom side ofsaid support;

a pinion interconnecting said racks so that movement of one of saidpaper guides causes a corresponding movement of the other of said paperguides;

at least first and second activatable switch means on the bottom of saidsupport in circuit with said first and second solenoid valves, saidswitch means being spaced apart a distance equal to one-half thedifference in width between said narrow width paper and saidintermediate width paper; and

first and second spaced magnets on one of said paper guides foractivating said switches spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing ofsaid first and second switch means and movable with said side guides sothat when said guides are in position to center said narrow width paperboth of said first and second switches are activated so that both saidfirst and second solenoid valves are energized to shut off vacuum tosaid second and third set of fingers and when said paper guide is inposition to center said intennediate width paper, said second switch isactivated to close said second solenoid valve ener ized to shut offvacuum to said third set of vacuum mgers and when sand paper guide is inposition to center said wide width paper neither of said switches isactivated so that vacuum is supplied to all three sets of vacuumfingers.

1. Apparatus for feeding sheets seriatim from one of a plurality ofstacks of sheets of varying width positionable in said apparatus, saidapparatus comprising: a sheet support having a first side for supportingany one of the plurality of stacks of sheets at a time; a plurality ofvacuum fingers movable toward and away from said support for feedingsaid sheets seriatim from a stack on said support; means for supplying avacuum to said vacuum fingers; valve means interconnecting at least oneof said fingers with said vacuum supply means and movable between anopen position wherein vacuum is supplied to said finger and a closedposition in which vacuum is not supplied to said finger; movablesheet-positioning means movable along a path for positioning one of saidstacks of sheets on said support; and means for controlling said valvemeans in response to movement of said sheet-positioning means so thatvacuum is supplied only to those fingers which are engageable with astack of sheets positioned on said support.
 2. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said control means includes: spaced switches on one ofsaid sheet support and said positioning means; and spaced means on theother of said sheet support and said positioning means for operatingsaid switches when moved along a path to a position adjacent saidswitches.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said positioningmeans includes: at least first and second side guides on said supportmovable toward and away from each other to center a stack of paperthereon; a rack extending from each of said side guides toward the otherside guide on a second side of said support opposite said first side,said racks being generally parallel to each other; and a pinionrotatably mounted on said second side of said support and engageable byboth of said racks so that upon movement of one of said side guides in afirst direction the other of said guides is moved correspondingly in anopposite direction to said first side guide.
 4. A paper-feedingapparatus for feeding copy sheets seriatim from one of a plurality ofstacks of paper of narrow, intermediate or wide width positionable insaid apparatus, said device comprising: a paper support having a topside for supporting any one of the plurality of stacks of paper at atime; first and second sets of vacuum fingers movable together towardand away from said support for engaging said copy sheets to feed themseriatim from a stack on said support; means for supplying a vacuum tosaid first and second sets of vacuum fingers; a first control valvemovable between an open and closed position and interconnecting saidsecond set of fingers to said vacuum supply means; movablepaper-positioning means for positioning a stack of any one of saidnarrow, intermediate or wide width copy paper on said support; and meansfor moving said first control valve so that vacuum is supplied only tosaid first set of vacuum fingers responsive to the positioning of saidnarrow paper on said support and vacuum is supplied to both sets offingers responsive to the positioning of said intermediate paper on saidsupport.
 5. A paper-feeding apparatus, as claimed in claim 4, furtherincluding: a third set of vacuum fingers movable with said first andsecond sets of vacuum fingers; a second control valve movable between anopen and closed position and interconnecting said third set of vacuumfingers with said vacuum supply means; and first and second controlmeans which include said moving means, said first control means beingresponsive to a position of said positioning means for holding saidintermediate width paper to close said second control valve to shut offvacuum to said third set of vacuum fingers and said first and secondcontrol means being responsive to a position for holding said narrowwidth paper in said positioning means to close said first and secondcontrol valves to shut off vacuum to said second and third sets ofvacuum fingers, respectively.
 6. A paper-feeding apparatus as claimed inclaim 5, wherein each of said control valves further include: first andsecond solenoids for moving said first and second control valvesrespectively; spaced first and second switches below said support andconnected in circuit, respectively, with said first and second controlvalves and spaced from each other a distance equal to one-half thedifference in width between said narrow width paper and saidintermediate width paper; and magnet means movable in response tomovement of said paper-positioning means along a path adjacent saidswitches to operate said switches in response to the position of saidpaper-positioning means.
 7. A paper-feeding apparatus, as claimed inclaim 6, wherein said magnet means includes: first and second magnetsspaced apart a distance substantially equal to the spacing of said firstand second switches.
 8. A paper-feeding apparatus for feeding copysheets seriatim from one of a plurality of stacks of paper including atleast stacks of paper of narrow width, intermediate width and wide widthpositionable on said apparatus, said apparatus comprising: a papersupport having a top side and a bottom side, said paper beingsupportable on said top side; at least first, second and third sets ofvacuum fingers, said first set of fingers being engageable with paper ofeach of said widths, said second set of vacuum fingers being engageablewith said intermediate width paper and said wide width paper only andsaid third set of vacuum fingers being engageable with said wide widthpaper only, said sets of vacuum fingers being movable toward and awayfrom said support for feeding paper from a stack of paper on saidsupport; means for supplying a vacuum to said first, second and thirdsets of vacuum fingers; a first energizable solenoid valveinterconnecting said second set of vacuum fingers with said vacuumsupply means and being movable between an open and closed position; asecond energizable solenoid valve interconnecting said vacuum supplymeans and said third set of vacuum fingers and being movable between anopen and closed position; first and second paper guides movable onopposite sides of a stack of paper to center said paper on said support;a rack extending from each of said paper guides on the bottom side ofsaid support; a pinion interconnecting said racks so that movement ofone of said paper guides causes a corresponding movement of the other ofsaid paper guides; at least first and second activatable switch means onthe bottom of said support in circuit with said first and secondsolenoid valves, said switch means being spaced apart a distance equalto one-half the difference in width between said narrow width paper andsaid intermediate width paper; and first and second spaced magnets onone of said paper guides for activating said switches spaced apart adistance equal to the spacing of said first and second switch means andmovable with said side guides so that when said guides are in positionto center said narrow width paper both of said first and second switchesare activated so that both said first and second solenoid valves areenergized to shut off vacuum to said second and third set of fingers andwhen said paper guide is in position to center said intermediate widthpaper, said second switch is activated to close said second solenoidvalve energized to shut off vacuum to said third set of vacuum fingersand when said paper guide is in position to center said wide width paperneither of said switches is activated so that vacuum is supplied to allthree sets of vacuum fingers.